VOICE REGISTERS. 



I2II 



the female singing voice ; but in the contralto of the latter it is also 

 used extensively, and it is the voice used in ordinary conversation. If 

 the larynx be examined while the lowest note of this register is being 

 uttered, it will be seen that the epiglottis is kept far back, and, to a 

 certain extent, hides the larynx. In suitable cases, however, it may be 

 seen that between the vocal cords there is an elliptical opening, which 

 extends from the posterior laryngeal 

 wall right up to the apex of the 

 thyroid cartilage in front. During 

 the sounding of such a note, the 

 larynx is fixed by the sterno-thyroid 

 and the thyro-hyoid muscles, and the 

 arytenoid cartilages are brought into 

 apposition by the arytenoideus. We 

 may assume, then, that the note is 



of the 

 length, 

 427). 

 to pro- 

 will be 



produced by the vibration 

 vocal cords in their whole 

 breadth, and thickness (Fig. 

 If the singer be directed 

 ceed singing up the scale, it 

 observed that the vocal processes 

 of the arytenoid cartilages become Fig. 427 -Aperture of glottis during pro- 



. J mi • ■ i auction of low note of lower register. 



rotated inwards. This is brought — Bosworth. 

 about by means of the lateral crico- 

 arytenoid muscles, and it continues until these two prominences are 

 in contact, when an elliptical opening exists, extending from the point 

 where they touch one another to the angle of the thyroid cartilage 

 in front. If the singer continues to ascend the scale, this elliptical 

 opening becomes more and more contracted, until the chink of the 

 glottis is represented by a linear slit. This condition is brought about 



by contraction of the thyro- cricoid 

 muscle, and the notes uttered during 

 this stage are said to belong to the 

 upper thick register; the highest note 

 obtainable by this register has now been 

 reached. It should be added that, as 

 the note rises in pitch, the epiglottis is 

 carried further forward, so that the 

 cords are more easily seen (Fig. 428). 

 During the utterance of the thick 

 register, the false cords are more widely 

 apart than at any other time. 



Having reached the highest tension 

 which it is possible to produce, by the 

 mechanism just described, the singer 

 must now employ a different one in 

 order to pass higher up the scale, and 

 this is done by making use of the mechanism of the middle register. 



Middle register. — On passing from the highest note of the lower 

 register to the lowest of the middle register, a very sudden change 

 occurs, which not only gives a sense of relief to the singer, but is usually 

 detected by the ear. This change consists in the relaxation of the 

 anterior fibres of the thyro-cricoid muscle, which may be felt by the finger 



Fig. 428. — Aperture of glottis during 

 production of high note of lower 

 register. — Bosworth. 



